The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Maybe thats one reason why people tend to connect with ads that make them laugh…

I agree about Red. Especially when a company like Gap suddenly tries to proclaim its ethics.

Exactly.

Execution with a joke does not make a good ad, but a well written joke in a well planned ad is gold.

And as for Gap. Its one of the few companies I refuse to buy from.

I have been hearing a lot about this whole ethical corporation thing these days. My question is which company doesn’t violate some law or exploit poverty? I’m not a tree hugger or a commie, but poverty is the foundation of Capitalism. Buying Body Shop is not very ethical either, as it probably just killed the small local manufacturer of shampoos in a whole host of towns across the world.

Another symptom of this is the fact that the only problem we have with GAP is it’s use of Child Labour. We’ve reduced the definition of ‘ethics’ to it’s lowest common denominator, because in our heart of hearts we know we could never afford anything good if no one was exploited.

This is just my opinion, I’m all ears to learn your views.

I agree with you Rob, the point I’m trying to make is that the danger in this approach of Project Red etc., is not so much that it’s an act of ‘hypocrisy-with-a-cause’ but that it’s becoming a fad. And once too many brands get onto it, the companies will be off looking at some other ’emotional’ differentiator and drop the charity to ‘invest’ the money in the new trick.

In the interest of the desrving people getting at least a teeny weeny percentage, we need to keep reminding clients not to think of this as a marketing advantage but a serious act as a corporate citizen. It shouldn’t be advertised but something discovered in-store or something by the customer, this is a pleasant surprise and will work far better in building brand equity. And more importantly ensure that the money for this is not from the ‘marketing budget’ hence becoming a more permenant feature.

Unfortunately, marketing is as fickle as a 7 year old kid and so a ‘switch’ mentality is almost guaranteed. That’s sad … because everyone loses [company / charity / consumer] … but as we said, it’s still better than no charity at all.

Read what Henry Ford wanted his company to do … now that was visionary – but unfortunately, we live in a money obsessed World now, and whilst it’s easy to blame the corporations, the every-day shareholders are also to blame as they are the ones demanding the profit.

[Infact, Company CEO’s are legally obliged to do all they can to maximise company profits – so I could argue they’re less to blame than Mr and Mrs Average]

My favourite time was when I worked on ‘The Sunday Sport’, ‘Barclays Bank’ and ‘The Body Shop’ all at the same time. It was like a workout for morals, ethics and greed.

Didn’t the Sport people send you a life sized poster of the fattest glamour model in the World?

Yes they did Pete … and you’ll remember I got bollocked for it – as if I asked them for it.

When I say see… I meant ebay…not the poster!!

Sounds like its hard to miss!